PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2706, 28 February 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Another week opens with the Germans still concentrating upon to smash a way through the Verdun fortifications. That a week of unprecedented fighting left them definitely short of their objcct in itself says much, for the strength of the fortress and its surrounding defences and the valour_ with which this portion of the Allied line is being defended. The Verdun battle is called in a Paris message the most terrific of modern times, and the fairly full details now available go far to justify this estimate. It is now clear that thfe Germans are striking at Verdun in the hope of l winning such a victory as might change the whole aspect of the war. As to the exact position reached in the .tremendous struggle which is in progress around the Verdun northern front something remains in doubt, but as to the nature of the German effort there is no doubt at all. In its immense power and disregard of sacrifice, the assault on Verdun compares with the great drive of Mackensen's phalanx through Galicia, but at Verdun the Germans aro capable of concentrating an enormously greater striking force in a given area within a given time than was possible in Galicia, and so are formidable in a degree that would make them irresistible but' for the fjict that the French military and defensive organisation also reaches in this area something approaching its maximum efficiency.

The issue of such a battle as is being fought at Verdun involves much more than local victory or defeat. It is suggested to-day that the Germans arc once again engaged upon an attempt to break a way to Paris, but it seems obvious enough that a shattering defeat of the Allied Western armies must be their ultimate aim, and that nothing less would compensate such an effort as they are now putting forth and warrant the sacrifices involved. For such a challenge as the assault on Verdun represents, the Allies should by this time be well prepared, but it is not only in mere resistance to the German onlaught that a reply to tho challenge may be expected to take shape. One broad feature of tho battle as it has so far been described is that the French are husbanding their resources at Verdun even in face of the enemy's unsparing efforts to crash through tho defences. Their apparent aim has been to take the- heaviest possible toll of the enemy while themselves avoiding losses as far as is consistent with the defence and maintenance of essential positions. Tho natural sequel will be a mighty counter-stroke to tho German blow, launched possibly against some section of the front far removed from Verdun. It is also obvious that such a call upon German resources as the assault on Verdun involves creates an opportunity ior action by the Allies in other theatres. There are already some indications that the opportunity is being turnnd to account. . v

While it is unlikely that the struggle which centres for the time at Verdun will be confined very much longer within its present narrow limits, its immediate events are of a character to arrest attention and indeed to awaken keen suspense, lliat the Germans shonld_ gain somo ground by such unsparing and costly efforts as they have made i.gai ids Verdun was inevitable. Their '-laim to have captured villages along the northern front is admitted by the French, with the explanation that much of tho captured ground consists of advanced positions and obposts not capable of held against massed attack. A similar retirement of the French line is reported to-day in the area- ea6t of the fortress, and it is stated that it was made, not under enemy pressure, but because it was deemed advi.nble by the French commandant. Wit? this, some enemy progress has been disclosed which hardly seems to admit of such a. comfortable explanation, but until the arrival of one item of news published to-day there was nothing to indicate that more than the extreme outor defences "f Verdun had been disturbed. This item is a communique in which (he Germans claim that thoy have capturod and firmly hold Fort Douaumonfc, ono of the powerful permanent forts by which Verdun is encircled. The Germans speak of this stronghold as "the north-eastern cornor pillar of Verdun's permanent main-line fortifications." It U situated four and a half miles north-north-east from the town of Vordun, and if it is really in the hands of tho enemy they have broken more deeply into the Verdun defences than had been made known. Paris reports a? yet in hand neither confirm nor deny the enemy claim. They speak,_ however, of particularly fiercc fighting in tho Douaumont region, and this in itself .implies a deeper enemy penetration than had previously been reported.

It is plain enough that if the Germans have captured Fort Douaumont the Verdun battle has entered an exceedingly important phase, but thai <1 decisive success on their part is involvect 1 does not b,v any means follow. Since Verdun is being defended as a great entrenched camp, depend-* ing rather upon field fortifications than upon permanent forts, the reduction of one of these forts may bn of less importance than might-other-wise have been expected, but time only will show how far Fort Douaumont, if it has fallen, is vital to the security of the French line in tlie Verdun region, through which the Germans must break before they can hope to malto thnir partial success decisive. On the maDj Fort

Douaumont is shown as the most advanced of the Verdun northern forts. It stands forward from Forts Sauville and Vaux, by which it is flanked on south-west and south-east respectively. The gap between these two positions is closcd in rear by Fort St. Michel. On their main line of attack the Germans are thus still faced by an unbroken barrier-line of forts, but if only the immediate circumstances were to be considered the position would admittedly occasion some concern. Clearly, however, it would be unsound to consider only the immediate circumstances. If the Allies arc to profit by the enormous concentration against Verdun to strike a blow elsewhere, their policy may very well involve taking risks at Verdun. It would in fact be a natural course of action on their part to exhaust, or all but exhaust, the defensive resources of the fortress in order to involve the enemy as deeply as possible and make him correspondingly less able to withstand a countcr-stroke.

Any such counter-stroke will doubtless come without warning. Meantime, apart from the great battle, news from the 'Western theatre tells only of relatively minor events. Prominence is given to a bombardment of the enemy positions at Choppy Wood, which is situated 15 miles west and north of Verdun, on the eastern fringe of the Argonne. Twenty-five miles further west, in the Champagne district, the-French have captured an . enemy salient south of St. Maric-a-Py. This placo is in the region of the great French offensive in September. On the British' front there is continued artillery fighting aloiig the Yser, and a successful air attack on an aerodrome near Lille is reported.

At time of writing there is no official news of operations in the Russian main theatre, but the nature of the recent reports makes it quite probable that the story whifih comes by way of Rome that a violent offensive has been opened in Poland and Galicia. is within the facts. This, however, awaits qonfirmation. Another report, that preparations for' an imminent advance are being made on the Balkan fronts, seems to be merely a speculative anticipation of probable or possible events. Late developments in the Western campaign undoubtedly make it very probablo tNit action will soon be taken by the Allies in other theatres, not in Russia and the 'Near East only, but on the A.ustro-Italian frontiers, where a stir of activity is reported in the Trentino.

The capture of Kermanshah by the Russians, besides being a gratifying indication of the rapidity with which they are extending; their foothold in Persia, is interesting as bringing a little nearer the prospect of ultimate co-operation between the forces engaged and the British columns on the Tigris. _ Kermanshah, situated a hundred miles inside the Persian western frontier, is distant about 170 miles, as the crow flies, from Bagdad, and only about 150 miles from where General Tovnsiiend is besieged. Mountain ranges intervene, however, between Kermanshah and the valley of the Tigris, and apart from whatever resistance the Turks may offer in the passes the Russians would have to overcome enormous'' transport difficulties in order to reach the Tigris at any point. Meantime no movement is reported in Mesopotamia, but fine weather has set in, which favours military, operations, and i 3 likely that General Aylmer will shortly make another attempt to reach Kut-el-Amara.

Official news of the Armenian campaign hardly keeps pace with some of the unauthorised stories that have been coming through lately, but indicates that the Russians are enterprisingly developing their recent victory at Erzerum. The principal event reported to-day is the capturo of the town of Ispir, 50 miles north of Erzerum and 70 miles distant f?6m Trebizond, on the. Black Sea. Another report, not official, states that the Turks are rushing'men and material to Angora. This is the railhead of a line from Constantinople, which only covers a little more than a third of the distance to Erzerum, but approaches nearer than any other Turkish railway to the Black. Sea coast. For what it is worth, an indication is thus supplied that the Turks are chiefly anxious ahout the defence of the coastal areas, an extended foothold in which by_ tho Russians would greatly simplify their transport problems in any forward movement they may ultimately make through Asia Minor. This is likely enough, for it is obvious that as the .Russians gain possession of Black Sea ports the position of the Turks will become steadily more precarious.

A somewhat remarkable turn is given to German-American negotiations and related events by the news that President Wilson is holding out strongly against powerful political- pressure, which aims at compelling him to make a weak surrender of the principles at stake in the negotiations. That action by the American Government in the direction of warning its citizens to refrain from travelling on belligerent ships would be.a weak surrender to Germany goes without saying. It would bo equivalent to a confession that it is impotent to protect the lives of its citizons on the high seas. Evon Me. W. J. Bryan, when bp was in- office as Secretary of State, perceived the true merits of this matter. In a statement issued at Washington on May 13, 1915, he said: American citizens act within

their indisputable right: ... in travelling wherever their legiti-

mate business calls them upoL

the high seas, and exercise those rights in the confidence that thei'

lives will not bo _ endangered . . . and certainly in tho confidence that their own Government will sustain them in the exercise of their rights.

Mr. Bryan, it is true, has since retracted. An editorial from his pen published last month contains the statement: "American citizens should not bo permitted to' travel on belligerent ships." That Mr. Bryan should thus be prepared to deprive American citizens of what he has himself called "their indisputable rights" will surprise no one very much, but it is a shock and a disappointment to find that the same humiliating attitude is taken by a large proportion, apparently a majority,. of the members of Congress. If the position is as bad as reports describe it to-day, President Wilson is in a position which entitles him to symnathy, unless it be held that his own policy has tended to weaken the fibre of the American nation, and pave the way for such an attitude as is said to be general with members of Congress. Even if the majority in Congress v.-hich favours a pusillanimous policy is less overwhelming than renoi'tp declare the

action taken By his own party ?<ii'catens_ to hopelessly undermine the position of the President. The best hope in sight seems to be that the American peoplc'riiay be less willing to sacrifice the national honour and dignity tha.i Congress is said to be.